Hmmm, let me see that Chinese restaurant's menu in the English version.What delicious dishes are on offer, I wonder?   "Steamed crap"?  "Virgin chicken"?  "The temple explodes the chicken cube"?Ah

This headline could only come from Asia:"Ninja 'affront' angers kung fu monks." Check out the accompanying photo!

The Japanese broadband Internet is 8 to 30 times faster than the American Internet!The Washington Post reports that Japan has the world's fastest Internet connections.  This sounds like Geek Heaven!   (Is my Sibling drooling yet?&n

The once-proud British education continues its headlong rush into the abyss.Apparently not satisfied with turning liberal arts and the humanities into a howling wasteland of willful ignorance, spineless skullduggery, and the absolute glorification of

YUCK! Quote: "A Japanese fan club for wasps has added the insects to rice crackers, saying the result adds a waspish scent to the traditional fare. The jibachi senbei, or digger wasp rice crackers, are made in Omachi town 200 km (120 miles) nor

You must be joking! But, alas, no.  This ranks as my nominee for "Stupidest Pizza Advertisement Ever."  Offensive, tasteless, crass, and, yes, plain stupid.  Note to advertising agencies: using the image of a genocidal mass m

Now this is just too crazy!Headline: "Cat casserole plan to save Australia's wildlife."  Quote:  "An Australian has come up with a novel solution to the millions of feral cats roaming the Outback: eat them."Where did

The following comes from the ever-sagacious La Parisienne.Beijing will now use cartoon police officers to pop up in browser windows, warning Web-surfers to stay away from illegal Internet content.  The article has a photo of the cute animated p

I'm short on time, so here's my mini-review of "The Simpsons Movie," which I saw last night:I liked it.It didn't try to be overreaching; it was the TV Simpsons, only on a larger screen with a longer run-time for more details and

Yes, March Tian Boedihardjo is only 9 years old, and he is a math prodigy.He will be the youngest college student in Hong Kong history when he enrolls  at Hong Kong Baptist University. We wish this young scholar the very best! 

 This is perfect for Friday entertainment, and it comes with a xie-xie to Ninme -- and she has the lyrics on her blog post!

Now this sounds cool!  Get ready for Google Sky.  Google Earth (a great toy) is expanding to include the stars!Oh, and you may want to check out Starry Night too, fellow astronomy fans! 

Dr. Sanity has an interesting post about the deleterious effects of mixing pop pseudo-psychology with . . . well, just about everything else in modern life. Here's a great one-line indictment of popular culture's descent into willful stupidit

Well, gentle reader, the weather is gray, wet, cloudy, raining, and generally depressing. This is AUGUST, usually the hottest time of the year, but the temperature is only about 60. Has autumn come early? You know I hate cold with a passion; I hat

I found this via Samizdata.This video lecture is from 2006, but it's well worth your time.  Swedish medical professor Hans Rosling of the Karolinska Institute gives an energetic, engaging, and interesting lecture about the Third World. 

This is the time of year for university rankings by all kinds of organizations!  The beat goes on, along with the endless bickering, complaints, protests, caveats, controversies, etc. etc.Recently I told you about the 2007 edition of the Jiao To

It's terrible.Look, people who find Shakespeare "boring" clearly haven't been really reading Shakespeare.  He's a poet of infinite variety, and he had that almost magical gift for words.  The English lan

The Wall Street Journal a few days ago ran this interesting story about cooperation between academics and the military.  Do read it all.One of the "big names" involved in General Petraeus, whom I've introduced to you before as not

This is the kind of headline that you find only in news from Asia:"Latest Chinese Scandal: Instant Noodle Price Fixing."Blurb:The government slammed Chinese instant noodle makers Friday as being partly to blame for a surge in inflation, say

I recently posted about Cambridge University Press and its reaction to a libel lawsuit over the book Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World.Inside Higher Ed today has an interesting corollary: Yale University Press and its re

Here is a funny little blog quiz.  Where should you go in Asia, gentle reader? You Should Travel to IndiaYou're a passionate, gusty traveler - and India's gritty urban centers won't scare you away. Maybe you'll take in the Taj Ma

Perhaps you will forgive a little moment of nerd-triumphalism here, as you have in the past?  I promise I won't bring out the giant foam finger and run around like a rabid sports fan shrieking "We're Number One!"The occasion?&n

Deutsche Welle reports on a German artist who uses strangely-shaped vegetables!His name is Uli Westphal, and he calls his vegetable-art "Mutatoes."You really need to see his "work."  Here is his website, and here is the Mutat

Former US ambassador to the UN, the inimitable and outspoken John Bolton, is currently in Taiwan.He has met with the foreign minister; news media reported that Bolton expressed his support of Taiwan's bid for UN membership.Furthermore, Bolton gav

It's a panda baby boom!4 baby pandas were born in only 1 day.  It really is remarkable.Congratulations and best wishes to all the new moms and xiao haizi (little ones).Oh, and in related news: a "boy" panda became a mom r